Smart watch and services the standouts from Apple event

Apple’s has launched Apple Watch at its Spring Forward event in California. The launch which was hosted by CEO Tim Cook also highlighted the manufacturers payment, connected home and health services.

Just as rivals Samsung were quick to draw attention to its Samsung Pay service during the Galaxy S6 launch in Barcelona, it didn’t take long for Tim Cook to say that the Californian brand had been pleased with the take-up of its payments service Apple Pay. The payment features on the Apple Watch were also demonstrated by Technology VP Kevin Lynch.

There was a strong Internet of Things theme to Spring Forward, Cook announced that ‘every major brand’ had committed to delivering ‘Car Play’ Apple’s car/phone integration system. He also announced that a number of companies had committed to its ‘Home Kit’ connected home platform. Technology VP Kevin Lynch also showed the connected home capabilities of the Apple Watch.

Health was another area that Apple focused on with Jeff Williams senior vice president of operations who launching the Research Kit open source platform for medical research professionals. Whilst a film by model and maternal health advocate Christy Turlington Burns demonstrated the health benefits of the Apple Watch.